Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins & Sonny Stitt - Duets

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:38
Size: 136.5 MB
Styles: Bop
Year: 1957/2010
Art: Front

[08:44] 1. Wheatleigh Hall
[10:22] 2. Sumphin'
[09:07] 3. Con Alma (Alt)
[09:20] 4. Con Alma
[11:29] 5. Anythin'
[10:34] 6. Haute Mon

Alto Saxophone – Sonny Stitt (tracks: 5); Bass – Tommy Bryant; Drums, Percussion – Charlie Persip; Piano – Ray Bryant; Tenor Saxophone – Sonny Rollins (tracks: 1, 2), Sonny Stitt (tracks: 3, 4, 6); Trumpet – Dizzy Gillespie. Recorded at Nola Studios, New York City on December 11, 1957.

The product of a day's worth of recording at Nola Studios in 1957, this album is essentially the same as a much older release of the same on Verve, but the master tapes had been found and remastered into stereo along with the addition of a couple of tracks previously left off the album. Presumably, these are the same sessions that spawned the Sonny Side Up album. Here, Dizzy works separately with each of the Sonnys for a couple of tracks. "Wheatleigh Hall" is something of a tour de force for both Rollins and Gillespie, and the "Con Alma" tracks are certainly worthwhile listens for a glimpse of Stitt's prowess. Finally, the album ends with "Haute Mon'," a themeless blues in G minor. Before that, however, is the addition of a newly discovered yet unlabeled track from the same sessions, which was belatedly titled "Anythin', Ha Ha" by Gillespie prior to the release of this album. Overall, the highlights are many, and one would probably be better off with this album than the original release (in mono, no less). On a related note, however, one would probably be better off with the Sonny Side Up album instead of this one (given only one choice), due to the simultaneous collaboration with both sax players (and for no other reason than the sheer beauty of "Eternal Triangle"). ~Adam Greenberg

Duets

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Lurlean Hunter - Greatest Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:02
Size: 77.9 MB
Styles: R&B, Vocal jazz
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[3:56] 1. Georgia On My Mind
[2:21] 2. What A Difference A Day Made
[2:01] 3. Have You Met Miss Jones
[3:05] 4. That Old Feeling
[3:49] 5. It's The Talk Of The Town
[2:34] 6. Gentleman Friend
[3:21] 7. Night Life
[2:35] 8. It Could Happen To You
[2:58] 9. Moondrift
[1:57] 10. Sunday
[2:56] 11. Like Someone In Love
[2:24] 12. This Time The Dream's On Me

Singer Lurlean Hunter made five albums on her own during the second half of the '50s, starting out as a Lonesome Gal on RCA and winding up still feeling Blue & Sentimental for Atlantic. She was discovered in Chicago where she had been singing in many clubs, including a collaboration with drummer Red Saunders that held forth at the Club DeLisa. Hunter's move to New York City in 1955 was prompted by RCA's interest in recording her. The singer's recording career actually began before she left the Windy City at the behest of indie jazz labels, some of them quite short-lived -- such as Seymour, with a catalog topping out at four releases. The press described Hunter as a "blues thrush" in announcing her interpretations of three numbers actually written by the label's owner, producer and record store owner Seymour Schwartz.

The latter promotional blurb inevitably told some truth about Hunter's stylistic traits, if not her relation to winged fauna. Her recordings were more about rhythm & blues and pop than jazz, yet were done in an era when such sessions often involved fine mainstream jazz players in the accompaniment. The 1956 Night Life, for example, featured pianist Hank Jones and tenor saxophonist Al Cohn. Blue & Sentimental -- with arrangements by the progressive Jimmy Giuffre -- was reissued in 2000 as a split CD also including an album by fellow singer Betty Bennett, a former wife of pianist André Previn. Hunter's final recordings were done in 1964, at which point she was still well under 40 years old. She is known to have died young, although details of this tragedy are murky. In one version of the story she was knocked off by a mobster lover, yet whether anybody was really that mean to Lurlean cannot be completely confirmed. ~bio by Eugene Chadbourne

Greatest Hits

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Larry Carlton - 2 albums: Collection / Collection Vol 2

Album: Collection
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 61:46
Size: 141.4 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1990
Art: Front

[5:40] 1. Small Town Girl
[5:47] 2. Smiles And Smiles To Go
[4:57] 3. Minute By Minute
[5:09] 4. For Heaven's Sake
[5:19] 5. Nite Crawler
[5:24] 6. Blues For T.J
[5:05] 7. 10 P.M
[4:34] 8. Sleepwalk
[4:08] 9. Tequila
[4:33] 10. Bubble Shuffle
[5:22] 11. Hello Tomorrow
[5:43] 12. High Steppin'

Larry Carlton is one of the few great guitarists whose style is so distinctive that you recognise it the moment you hear it. His smooth, expressive tone is what many guitarists can only dream of coming close to. He is also probably one of the most requested session musicians ever. His early work with Steely Dan was just brilliant and here on this disc, although you don't get the Steely Dan stuff, you get a very good representation of his first 12 years in the business.

As is expected of a GRP recording, the sound quality is excellent coming from a digital master and there are two never before released recordings as well. The best track is "Sleepwalk" which shows you just what great phrasing the guy has, probably one of the hardest things for any musician to achieve is good phrasing and LC achieves this with ease. A brilliant musician and a great disc! ~Frederick Baptist

Collection

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Album: Collection Volume 2
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:37
Size: 129.6 MB
Styles: Guitar jazz
Year: 1997
Art: Front

[5:37] 1. Osaka Cool
[4:22] 2. Heart To Heart
[5:16] 3. March Of The Jazz Angels
[5:05] 4. Honey Samba
[5:30] 5. Pure Delight
[5:28] 6. Ridin' The Treasure
[4:16] 7. Those Eyes
[6:16] 8. Lots About Nothin'
[4:43] 9. Farm Jazz
[5:12] 10. The Gift
[4:47] 11. Remembering J.P

It's cool. It's upbeat. It's danceable. It's the much accomplished Larry Carlton's Collection Volume 2, gathering the cream from his releases The Gift, Kid Gloves, Discovery, On Solid Ground, Alone / But Never Alone, and Larry & Lee (that would be Ritenour).

Carlton is a superb guitarist. His phrasing is impeccable, his ear for melody sound. His competent brand of cool collected-ness is no doubt what attracted the ear of Steely Dan, who had Carlton in now and again to take care of the fretwork. One chief difference is that Steely Dan had a sound, a readily identifiable style. Carlton's playing is faultless, but these tracks seem to melt into one another without much to distinguish them. Moreover, after listening to this disc I'm still not entirely sure what Larry Carlton has to say. I'm not sure who he is — despite his virtuoso chops, much of this music could have been made by any number of smooth jazzmen. Of course, that may be all Mr. Carlton is after. He is notably effective on "Honey Samba," touching on "The Gift," delicately precise on "Pure Delight," and charming on "Farm Jazz," which does sound a little different (in a chugging faux -hillbilly direction) from the rest of the fare.

Guest stars on this compilation include Kirk Whalum, who contributes some standard smooth-fusionary licks and a few memorable phrases, especially on "March of the Jazz Angels," which began by reminding me of the Seventies pop hit "How Long Has This Been Going On?" Larry Carlton is a virtuoso, but is never flashy for its own sake. Amid the synthesizer gauze of these tracks he himself plays brilliantly, and is, of course, the major attraction. ~Robert Spencer

Collection Volume 2

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Phil Woods, Lee Konitz - Phil & Lee: Two Brothers In Three Flats

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:27
Size: 138.4 MB
Styles: Bop, Saxophone jazz
Year: 2004/2010
Art: Front

[5:59] 1. Alone Together (Take 1)
[5:36] 2. Just Friends
[7:28] 3. My Old Flame
[7:30] 4. Alone Together (Take 2)
[3:01] 5. Scattin' With Phil & Lee
[5:01] 6. I Remember You
[1:57] 7. Cherokee
[9:47] 8. Everything Happens To Me
[6:38] 9. In Walked Bud
[3:35] 10. Donna Lee
[3:52] 11. Free With Phil & Lee

What looks on the surface to be a fairly straightforward set by Phil Woods and Lee Konitz during their several days performing together at the 2003 Umbira Jazz Festival in Pescara, Italy, is anything but that. Konitz invites the audience to hum a sustained note to support his intricate free improvisation, with Woods joining him after a bit, gradually segueing into an intriguing take of "Alone Together." This sets the table for most of the CD, as the alto saxophonists play freely as they slowly work their way into other standards including "Just Friends," "Cherokee," and a full reprise of "Alone Together." Konitz is unaccompanied in the dissonant exploration of "I Remember You," while Woods is mesmerizing with his dash through "Cherokee." Each alto saxophonist takes a turn at the piano as well in support of his partner, Woods in "My Old Flame" and Konitz during the wild finale "Free With Phil & Lee." The unusual "Scattin' With Phil & Lee" finds the two men putting down their instruments and scatting improvised lines together, with Konitz playing a bit of piano as well. Stefano Bollani takes over the piano for a powerful duet of "Everything Happens to Me" with Konitz. Franco D'Andrea is at the keyboard for the jaunty duet with Woods of "In Walked Bud." This is one of the assets of a small independent label; it would be hard to imagine a major jazz label issuing a CD such as this brilliant effort, let alone simultaneously releasing three other CDs by the same pair of musicians recorded during the same festival. The excellent sound adds to the considerable value of this adventurous meeting between Phil Woods and Lee Konitz. ~Ken Dryden

Phil & Lee: Two Brothers In Three Flats

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Sharon Bourbonnais - A Girl's Gotta Play

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:47
Size: 86.5 MB
Styles: Piano & vocal jazz-blues
Year: 2017
Art: Front

[3:38] 1. Down That Road
[4:29] 2. Move On
[3:55] 3. Gator Tuff
[3:57] 4. Up Your Game
[3:26] 5. Metaphor
[4:12] 6. Breakup Text
[2:54] 7. Another Friday Night
[3:50] 8. Back Against The Wall
[3:24] 9. A Girl's Gotta Play
[3:58] 10. Only A Dream

Sharon Bourbonnais Piano & Vocals, Tom Wells Drums, Pat Harris Dbl Bass, Tijuana Trainwreck Horns-Mark Wilson & Tiger Anaya, Beth Galiger Flute & Sax, Kris Brown Guitar.

Somewhere in between jazz and blues you'll find the music through the heart of Sharon Bourbonnais. When you see her fingers glide effortlessly across 88 keys and hear her sultry voice inviting you to share in clever, insightful stories, you immediately sense this is not your typical singer/songwriter fare. Sharon describes her brand as Texas Jazz fused with Nola Blues.

Sharon and her band Tres Bourbonnais have been featured at SXSW and the Cutting Edge Music Conference in New Orleans. Her music has taken her across the South, Midwest, Northeast and Hawaii. Favorite haunts include a residency at the historic Driskill Hotel, the legendary Elephant Room in Austin and McGonigel's Mucky Duck in Houston. Sharon plans to tour extensively to support her new release out Jan 2017 ~ "A Girl's Gotta Play".

A Dallas native, Sharon is a graduate of the University of Texas school of music, creating many opportunities to share her love of music through teaching and directing, while continuing to write and perform. Sharon started her music career in the Rio Grande Valley, performing on South Padre Island and attending Texas Southmost College where she was the pianist for the TSC Jazz Band before moving to Austin. Irie Jane, a popular all female reggae band recruited Sharon for a successful run, twice accepted to the famed SXSW music conference. Tropical winds of change swept Sharon to the North Shore of Oahu, HI for a decade. There she honed her songwriting while living an idyllic beachfront lifestyle, bringing back the spirit of Aloha when she returned home to Austin Texas. In 2015 she entered the studio with new producer Josiah Hoskins, who has been crafting a refined and definitive sound, centered around Sharon's piano and voice, surrounded by a who's-who of world-class Austin musicians.

A Girl's Gotta Play

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Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - High Flying

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1961
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:13
Size: 92,8 MB
Art: Front

(5:32)  1. Come On Home
(3:11)  2. The New A B C
(2:36)  3. Farmer's Market
(3:10)  4. Cookin' at the Continental
(2:53)  5. With Malice Toward None
(3:48)  6. Hi-Fly
(4:30)  7. Home Cookin'
(2:21)  8. Halloween Spooks
(4:52)  9. Popity Pop
(3:55) 10. Blue
(3:19) 11. Mr. P. C.

High Flying, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross' third album for Columbia, features more of the group's inventive and playful vocalese, including a vocal adaptation of John Coltrane's "Mr. P.C." The group's active imagination leaves no stone unturned, finding musical inspiration in the alphabet ("The New ABC"), shopping at the "Farmer's Market," and shivering through the seasonal hijinks of "Halloween Spooks." Dave Lambert and company cover kindred soul Slim Gaillard's "Popity Pop," and answer their critics with a disarmingly straightforward vocal group performance on "With Malice Toward None." The Ike Isaacs Trio provides instrumental accompaniment on this delightful outing that was the group's final album with Annie Ross. The album was reissued in its entirety with different cover art as The Way-Out Voices of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. ~ Greg Adams http://www.allmusic.com/album/high-flying-mw0000894932

Personnel:  Bass – Ike Isaacs;  Drums – Jimmy Wormworth;  Piano – Gildo Mahoneys;  Vocals – Annie Ross, Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks .

High Flying

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Rich Perry - East of the Sun and West of 2nd Avenue

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@224K/s
Time: 62:03
Size: 100,6 MB
Art: Front

(6:45)  1. I thought about you
(6:33)  2. The touch of your lips
(8:00)  3. My ideal
(7:08)  4. East of the sun
(7:59)  5. Soul eyes
(5:52)  6. Yours and mine
(6:31)  7. My shining hour
(6:38)  8. Falling in love
(6:32)  9. Three little words

Rich Perry is that rarest of tenor saxophonists a complete musician with an understanding of space and timing, a palpable sense of color and humor and absolutely no need to showboat or compromise. Whether he's a featured soloist in a big band or leading a quartet date (as heard here), he makes jazz that's adventurous and highly listenable with a smart and sympathetic band playing standards not frequently performed and in new ways of playing in the tradition. Listen, for example, to the approach to Ray Noble's "The Touch of Your Lips. Through an almost rubato statement of the theme and then into some elaborate improvisation, Perry plays both the tune and its changes in his soloing, giving it a different and new life. It's almost impressionistic the melody is more hinted at and around, than played right out.  

Perry takes on music by Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arlen and Harry Ruby from the world of popular song and tackles some intriguing and rarely essayed jazz tunes from Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes to Thad Jones' "Yours and Mine and the very rare "Falling Love by Victor Feldman. He has also chosen wisely in his bandmates, seasoned veterans who don't sound as if they played every tune a million times before. Listen to what this great group does with "My Shining Hour it's up-tempo and engaging because we have to listen to find what the leader and the company he keeps do with the melody. All the tunes are played as if they were new and never improvised on before and that makes for the best kind of jazz. ~ Donald Elfman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/rich-perry-and-harold-danko-east-of-the-sun-and-trilix-by-donald-elfman.php

Personnel:  Rich Perry (tenor sax); Harold Danko (piano); John Hebert (bass); Jeff Hirshfield (drums).

East of the sun and west of 2nd avenue

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Don Grusin - Native Land

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:02
Size: 114,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:05)  1. Ritual
(4:58)  2. Smilin'
(4:42)  3. Catch The Spirit
(5:28)  4. Khalifa
(4:45)  5. Madala
(4:58)  6. Native Land
(5:39)  7. Road Town
(4:35)  8. Dreamland
(4:35)  9. Onde (Own-gee)
(5:13) 10. Totem

Don Grusin has truly immersed his musical skills in the growing popularity of world music, music indigenous to people of different cultures throughout the world. On Native Land, Grusin has crafted a sound of music that drifts from one corner of the world to the other. He is supported by such outstanding instrumentalists as Alex Acuna, drums and percussion; Abraham Laboriel, bass; Ricardo Silveira, guitar; and Judd Miller, with a variety of exotic instruments such as the pennywhistle, fletchorn, oboe, Astorian, tuben, and taegum. Always performed with passion and sensitivity, this recording is fresh and daring to be different. http://www.allmusic.com/album/native-land-mw0000100178

Personnel: Don Grusin (vocals, piano, synthesizer, percussion, programming); Judd Miller (oboe, tuben, taegum, fletchorn, Astorian, pennywhistle, Shawmettes); Dave Gruisin (piano); Ricardo Silveira (guitar); Abraham Laboriel (bass); Armand Sabal-Lecco (vocals, bass, talking drum, percussion, piccolo bass, talk box); Alex Acuna (drums, percussion).

Native Land

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